Make some magic on Black Friday!

After I finish this blog post, I am going to fix myself a cup of coffee, get out my hooks, and make a little mouse (Neville the Nibbler) for one of my nephews for Christmas.   You can see him up in the left hand corner of the collage above; his pattern is under "Crochet an Outdoor Setting."  

Patterns for all of the dolls and toys pictured here are freely available on this blog.    Along the top are a mouse and turtle, a Free Spirit doll, a Crochet Bleuette, and a Basic Amigurumi Doll.  Next row is a Beagle from " Links to my Animal Patterns," and a Knit Waldorf Style Doll.  Next row is a Prairie Flower Cloth Doll and a Pocket Spirit with a simple bed made from a picture frame and wood turnings.  Along the bottom row is a Free Spirit, Mini Free Spirit, and Labrador puppy (around the Christmas tree), two Teacup Spirits, a Prairie Flower cloth doll, and a littler of Kitties.

You can find all the patterns by scrolling down the left sidebar, looking for the header, or a picture of the type of doll or toy you want to make.  Links to all of the patterns are listed there.

We can all make this Friday a creative Black Friday, and give the gift of handmade love.  It just takes a little time, and a little yarn.

However your day, have a good one!

UPDATE: Saturday 11/24/2012

Meet Neville, Ernie, and Trevor :-)

 My Black Friday Mice!

Kaitlyn, a Christmas commission

Kaitlyn is a sweet little cat-eared Pocket Spirit, commissioned as a Christmas gift.  She was a lot of fun to make :-) 

Patterns for the doll, and her outfits, are available free here on the blog.  Look on the left sidebar for 'Links to Pocket Spirit Patterns.' 

I'm starting to run out of time!  Still have several Christmas gifts of my own to make, but I can't stop knitting :-)  I'm enjoying the heck out of learning something new.

Kaitlyn in her birthday suit :-)

Christmas Bazaar 2011 and a new Group!

The dolls I donated to this years High Street United Methodist Christmas bazaar, to be held tomorrow.   I hope they all find good homes :-)

I also want to share with you a new Flickr group that three of us, who love crochet dolls, have created.  It is Hooked On Dolls! and we would love to have you come and visit :-)  It is a group created especially for crochet and knit dolls, and we already have over 200 great photos.  

As always, enjoy the crochet!

BellaDonna Pocket Spirit

BellaDonna, a Pocket Spirit, is a commission for a friend.  It has been a bit since I've made a Pocket Spirit doll; coming back to them is like returning to an old friend.  I really love to make these little dolls :-)

She is Nightshade's sister; you can see Nightshade here.

Enjoy the crochet!

Bleu Faerie Finished!

Bleu is finished, wings and all.  Patterns for the basic doll, wire wings, and how to make a sweet dress from crochet lace are available on this blog.  Check out the left sidebar under Pocket Spirits.

Thinking even smaller Spirits are in the future :-)

Latest Pocket Spirit WIP

My latest Pocket Spirit work-in-progress, a Bleu Faerie commission for a dear friend.  She is alongside a BJD from B&G, a 16cm mini honey named Claire.  The BJD's are what inspired me to make the Pocket Spirits, with their movable heads and jointed shoulders.  This doll uses 9mm eyes at the shoulder to give a nice movable joint.

You can find the pattern for the Pocket Spirit on the left hand sidebar.

More later :-)

Nicole

Nicole Pocket Spirit.  The hat and bag are from the Annie's Attic Miniature Shoe Society patterns; I love the way the bag pattern turned out.  She can even put some treasures in it; it really works!

Her skirt is one of my favorite calico prints.  I love the blue roses on the yellow ground, and this is a fun a quick way to make a dress.

A gift for a friend

Meet Jennie, a gift for my dear friend Bev.  As you can probably tell, her favorite color is blue :-)

The hat is another great Annie's Attic pattern.  I really wish these were still available.  They fit the Pocket Spirits perfectly.

The dress is an adaptation of the camisole pattern, an easy side to side bodice that is very forgiving.  This Pocket Spirit has a jointed shoulder, similar to the way the head is jointed, using a 9mm acrylic eye as the joint.  Gives her a little more pose-ability, but the armholes in the clothing need to be a little larger to accommodate the joint.

Hi Bev!

Spirit of Spring

I was inspired by 60F weather, the thawing of ice, and this womans wonderful crochet jewelry to create a Spirit of Spring.  Most of North America and Europe have suffered from a brutal winter; so it is time for this Spirit to heal our hearts.

The meadow scene is one I made last year, about this time.  The dear little owl on the stump is from a free pattern on the Roman Sock blog by Brigitte Read; patterns for the rest of the scene are available here on my blog.

I've never been a big bunny fan, but bunny ears seemed appropriate for a Spring Spirit :-)  They are crocheted directly to her head:

Bunny ears:  Ch11, dc in the back loop of the third ch from the hook, dc in the back loops of each ch to the last two chains, hdc in the back loop of the last two chains, sl st to the head, turn, sl st in the first st, sc in each dc up to the top of the ear, three sc in the turning ch at the top, and sc in the remaining ch on the opposite side back to the begining, with a sl st in the last ch.  Fasten off and leave a long tail to neaten up the ears where they attach to the head.

For her hair, I used Yarn Bee 'Elvish' (appropriate!) from Hobby Lobby.  I must say, it is a bugger to work with; you can't really see the stitches, you have to feel them.  But, being an eyelash yarn, mistakes are well hidden.  I worked the wig cap for several rounds, then tried it on her head to see where I would need to work openings for her ears.  For the ear openings, ch3, skip three sts, sc in the next three, ch3, skip three stitches, sc the rest of the way around.  Work one or two more rounds, then a final round of (ch7, sl st in the next) 10 times, then (ch15, sl st in the next) the rest of the way around.

Her dress is from a lace pattern, worked in two shades of blue/green, with the final round beaded with fringe beads.  The top of the skirt is gathered up with 42 stitches, then a simple bodice is crocheted from spring green.   Size 11 seed beads were used on parts of the flowers and at the waist and neckline of the dress.  The flower patterns were from different sources, but mostly from 'Crochet Bouquet,' a great book of crochet flowers and leaves.

 She is wearing Elven Boots crocheted from size 8 perle cotton.  With a slight modification (in the pattern) they can become Mary Janes.

Today we have four inches of snow, but the Spirit of Spring is here!

Happy Valentines Day!

Logan loves flowers; and she has a basket full for Valentines Day :-)

Her perky hat is another Annie's Attic pattern, in bright white, red, and blue.  Her jumpsuit is a combination of a shortened bodice and attached pantaloons, made a bit fuller, gathered below the knee, then ruffled.

A better view of the lace trim and big flower on Logan's hat.  The flower is from '100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet;' worked in size 3 crochet cotton.  The small flowers on her jumpsuit are the same flower, worked in size 8 perle with slightly smaller petals.

Logan is wishing all of you a very sweet Valentines Day :-)

Ready to travel

Claire says "I'm outta here!"

Claire has packed her bag, put on her hat, and is ready to leave the frozen Midwest.  But where will she go?  Five inches of snow in sunny Dallas?  Frostbite and freeze in the Deep South?  Maybe she'll head for the Caribbean and catch a cruise ship. 

Claire's pretty hat and bag are from the Annie's Attic series "Annie's Miniature Shoe Society," and her mock smock dress is available here on this blog (it is the Christmas dress with cap sleeves and Spring colors).

Closeup of the mock smocking on the bodice.  I love the texture that post stitches give crochet :-)

I sure hope that Groundhog was right; I'm ready for Spring!

Nadia's new hat :-)

Nadia says "I look like Audry Hepburn!"  

This delightful hat pattern is from an Annie's Attic series entitled "Annie's Miniature Shoe Society."   The primary pattern was for a fancy dress shoe, but included a hat and purse as accessories.   These were published in 2000-2001 and are sadly out of print now.  If you do a Google search on the series, you may find some still available.

I loved the hats and bags for these patterns, but didn't really have a doll that the hat would fit well.  Sweet Pocket Spirits seem perfect; with 18 of these patterns, expect to see Pocket Spirits sporting fancy chapeaus in the future :-)

Enjoy the crochet!

Variations on a theme

My little dolls have pose-able limbs by using pipe cleaners in their arms and legs.  I worry a bit that bending these pipe cleaners too much will cause them to break, so here is another way to make these little dolls pose-able.  

For the pose-able Pocket Spirit above, I've crocheted seperate upper and lower arms, and upper and lower legs; so now she has an elbow joint and a knee joint.

Upper and lower arm, and what they look like stitched together.  Pipe cleaners are still inserted into the upper and lower arms, but the bending is now done at the joint.

And here is the leg, one completed and the other showing how the two are stitched together.

The arms and legs are a bit longer than the original Pocket Spirit, so I made her torso a bit longer too.  She stands just under eight inches tall; still a sweet size :-)  The pattern with these modifications is here:

Jointed Pocket Spirit Pattern

Meet Nadia!

Nadia and Comfort in sepia :-)

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the crochet!

Pocket Cottage

What can you make from Granny squares?  Afghans, scarves, caps, sweaters, dollhouses....Dollhouses?!  Yes, you can!  No power tools required :-)

The idea to make a dollhouse for the Pocket Spirits has been percolating in my mind for a couple months, and with Christmas now a sweet memory, there was time to see if the idea could become a reality.   I love dollhouses, but hammers and nails are not my strong suit.  Making a dollhouse from simple squares really appealed to me, and here are the results.

Roof and ceiling squares

All of the squares for the Pocket Cottage came from the book "200 Crochet Blocks."  I love this book, and had to resort to buying it instead of borrowing it constantly from the library.  Lots of great blocks, lots of great color combinations.

wall squares

These squares worked up to be nine inches, and it took 12 of these, plus two 9x4 rectangles and two 4x4 squares to make the dollhouse.   I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn and a G hook.   

floor and sleeping loft

Carboard is used to make the structure rigid.  Cut the cardboard after the blocks are crocheted and blocked (yes, blocked!  just dampen your crochet and lay it out on bath towels, squared up nicely so all the blocks are the same size).  I covered my cardboard pieces with fabric so the carboard wouldn't show.  

stitching the pieces with carboard in between

Stitch the walls, floor, roof, and loft by holding two squares wrong side together and single crochet around two side.  Insert the carboard between the squares and finish crocheting the squares together, stretching your squares to fit around the cardboard.

living room; time for tea :-)

When the pieces for the walls, floor, roof, and loft are complete, crochet the walls together with slip stitches; the top of the roof with single crochet and picots; the bottom of the wall to the floor and the top of the wall to the loft with slip stitches; and the roof to the walls also with slip stitches.  Crochet the roof apex pieces to the top front and back of the roof. 

Sleeping loft; bedtime with Bearable :-)

When the structure is complete,  give it a finished look by slip stitching around the front and back opening of the dollhouse.   If you like, crochet a fancy trim in the back loops of the slip stitches to mimic gingerbread trim along the roof line and also along the side edges of the roof.

Side view with gingerbread trim

Pretty simple!  The most difficult part of this is some awkward stitching when stitching the rigid pieces together.   A more comprehensive picture tutorial is available here:

Pocket Cottage Tutorial 

Cute, inexpensive, and made with your own hands :-)

Home Sweet Home for the Pocket Spirits!

Aran Sweater

During the Christmas holidays I made my little Pocket Spirit an Aran sweater, and made both of us some pretty hair accessories.  The Hellbore and Holly patterns are from the book " 100 Flowers to Knit and Crochet."  It has some of the loveliest flower patterns, and I was able to borrow it from our local Library :-)  The large flowers are crocheted in sportweight yarn, and glued to a hair barret.  The small ones are crocheted in size 8 perle and glued to a length of 1/4" ribbon and tied in her hair.

The sweater pattern is available here: Pocket Spirit Aran Sweater

And the pants are available here: Pocket Spirit Pants

Another fun project was this awesome tree, courtesy of Michaels.   My friend Joyce directed me to this link, and has made at least two beautiful trees from this pattern.  The pattern is easy, and can be made as tall or short as you like; it makes up fast, and is the prettiest crochet tree pattern I've seen.

Sadly, the link to the Christmas tree is no longer available from Michaels.

Start the New Year right and get hooking!

Comfort and Joy; The Spirits of Christmas

May glad tidings of Comfort and Joy be yours this Christmas season,

And may the Spirit of Christmas remain in your heart all the year long!

 

Comfort (on the left) and Joy are all dressed up in their Holiday dresses, and ready for Santa to fill their stockings :-)

Their dresses have 'mock' smocking on the bodice, a crochet technique that uses Front Post Triple Crochet stitches to create a smocked look.  I love the look of smocking, and wanted to try to replicate it in crochet.  The post stitches can be a little fiddly if you've never tried them, so you might want to practice the stitch pattern with a larger yarn to get the hang of it.  The pattern for the dress is here:

Mock Smocking Dress Pattern

The stocking hat is crocheted in sportweight yarn (I used Lustersheen), and pattern is here:

Pocket Spirit Christmas hat

The Pocket Stockings are also crocheted in sportweight yarn.  They would make fun Christmas ornaments for a small tree, or the perfect stocking for your little dolls:

Pocket Stockings

Merry Christmas, my friends!  Have a happy Holy Day season, and a blessed New Year :-)

Hobbit Children

I first read The Lord of the Rings during a summer semester at college.   Since then I've probably re-read the trilogy 20 times, not including reading The Silmarillion,  The Hobbit, Lost Tales, and JRR Tolkien's letters.  It is my favorite book of literature; a story of courage, friendship, and ordinary people achieving the extraordinary. 

So when my latest Pocket Spirit got a curly hair style from some mohair boucle yarn I have, she told me in no uncertain terms that she was a Hobbit, and by jove, she was indeed :-)

So here meet Violet Willowdown and Rose Fernbrake, two dear Hobbit children.  I used the camisole pattern for the bodice of their dresses, and made their skirts from some lovely fabric that was a gift to me from Stepheny at Katie What Can You Do.  Stepheny has a delightful blog, and is a very dear person of great insight.

And this is Ivy Heathertoes, wearing another sweet combination of crochet and fabric.  The pattern for the bodice and dress is here:

Link Bodice and Dress

The fabric for Ivy's dress was another gift, this from the very talented dollmaker Kate Erbach.  If you'd like to see some of her amazing dolls, you can find them here at My Sister Kate

Violet, Ivy, and Rose say 'Have a lovely day!'